ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

Ye shall reap what ye sow

I am tired of the whinging about the big 4,of the moaning about Sky and the paranoia about G14. The fact is that in 1991 the big 5 proposed that they and others should break away from the Football League and form an independent Premier League.

The benefits were almost purely financial in that TV money would be negotiated seperately and no longer shared among the 92 League clubs. Furthermore each club would keep its own gate money and no longer have to pay a share to the visiting club.

Who were the big 5 who put their names to this proposal.. Arsenal, Liverpool, Man United, Spurs and EVERTON. No Chelsea, City, Villa, Newcastle you will note, although they willingly joined the plot hatched by the Big 5.

Arsenal and Man United took full advantage of the financial windfalls that followed hence their mega stadia and financial clout. Liverpool whilst reasonably successful in playing terms by common consent missed the financial opportunities presented, due to a Chairman out of his depth in a business environment and an incompetant Chief Executive. Unfortunately, Everton and Spurs not only missed the financial opportunities but also managed to be similarly unsuccessful on the playing field.

We instigated and supported the changes the Premiership and TV money offered and it is pointless blaming those clubs that exploited the opportunities.

Face the facts. The big 4 exist not because of Sky but in the case of Arsenal and Man U because of far sighted business and football management, in the case of Liverpool because of the proflle 20 years of domestic and European success in the 70s and 80s gave them and in the case of Chelsea because of the Russian bilions.

The way forward is to put aside envy, jealousy and ridiculous cospiracy theories and to support the club in its present slow but sure revival.
Craig Jones, Liverpool Posted 09/01/2008 at 15:15:55

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Lyndon Lloyd

I agree to some extent, but I think you underestimate the role of the G-14 and the millions in TV revenue swilling about the Champions League for the real reason why the "Sky 4" have such vastly greater financial resources than the rest.

Now that they have a virtual lock on those top-four places, they just keep getting richer and richer and richer, making it that much harder for the likes of Everton ? without a dodgy billionnaire backer ? to bridge the gap.

Chris Matheson
1 Posted 10/01/2008 at 09:22:54

It is a source of shame to me that our club was one of the instigators of the move to break up the old football league in the days of "Sir" Philip Carter, and my only consolation is that I was personally opposed to it at the time. But the fact that we were involved does not make it right. Moreover, subsequent developments have made the problem far worse, notably the expansion of the European Cup - originally for League Winners, then 2nd Place too - into this self perpetuating oligarchy that is the Champions League. It is this CL creation that has done most to concentrate wealth at the Rich 4 (Roman Abramovitch and Matthew Harding notwithstanding). It skews all other competitions especially both domestic cups. The way that CL clubs then have two chances to fall into the UEFA cup as a backup is also corrupt. Increasing the number of substitutes a team can name favours the Rich 4 as they can afford to have larger squads so have more tactical options available to them.
I had hoped that Michel Platini’s election as UEFA President would provide a challenge to these G14 clubs but it seems he has stalled. I wish all the other clubs in Europe would get together and form a G300 or however many there are, to challenge and smash this cartel that is ruining football for the rest.

Chris Marks
2 Posted 10/01/2008 at 12:27:48

I hate to be pedantic, but let’s be accurate. Yes, there is a perceived ’Big Four’ in the Premier, but the G-14 disbanded last December after failing to meet its aims. OK, there’s the UEFA club forum, but that’s a different kettle of fish entirely.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2221582,00.html

Chris Marks
3 Posted 10/01/2008 at 12:44:45

To clarify what I said above, the G-14 having disbanded proves, to some extent, that we’re not missing some massive party by not being part of it, or indeed by not being at the top table of European football anymore. It shows the clubs don’t have it all their own way all the time.

Having said that, I agree with original point and feel that had we had more foresight and better senior management from at least 1987, we’d have had a much easier last 20 years...